Statement of Teaching Philosophy
Two principles drive my teaching: first, engagement follows
from a direct understanding of the relevance of coursework to one’s life;
second, in order to grow, students must be empowered to own their learning.
This requires targeted guidance from the teacher, since it often entails
encouraging students to rethink their ideas about education. I model a paradigm
of education in which the teacher maintains authority but is also open to
student direction, and one in which students are encouraged (sometimes to their
chagrin) to develop self-sufficiency within a safe, supportive environment.
To this end I set the stage for student engagement from day one, informing students that our course may be very different from what they expect, describing in detail my high expectations of their investment, and explaining the benefits of this approach. In my Asian literature course for non-majors, inspired by the meditative traditions we study, we start every class with a few minutes of meditation and silent journaling about the reading assignment. I situate this practice in the context of my expectations for insightful engagement in activities, and explain that students need to quiet their minds in order to contribute to our academic community. Instead of listening to a lecture on the meaning of passages from the Tao te Ching, students practice guided literary analysis of assigned passages, applying background knowledge from earlier lectures on general themes and context, to construct textual meanings in collaboration. At the end of the semester, I ask students to reflect in writing about their growth: what they can do (better) now that they couldn’t do before, how they will use what they have learned in the real world, and what they have learned about themselves through our work together.
In my first-year composition course, after practicing argumentation skills, students work together in semester-long learning teams to create websites called Lamar Critical Editions about works of their choice, which contain researched entries on contexts surrounding the literature, critical summaries of influential scholarship, and original research essays. Scaffolded, skill-based writing instruction coupled with opportunities for collaborative, open-ended interpretation provides student with the confidence to pursue ambitious arguments in which they are genuinely invested.
In my advanced courses for majors, students maintain writing portfolios consisting of short bi-weekly papers. These papers receive only formative feedback and the portfolio is graded holistically based on improvement, which gives weak writers the confidence to succeed while encouraging recognized writers to take risks with more advanced critical thinking and writing styles. Instead of lecturing on the Enlightenment, I require students in a course on British literature after 1800 to answer reading questions about the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on the Enlightenment to historicize our analysis of secularization, scientific discourse and religion in modern literature.
The effect of combining rigorous standards for self-sufficiency with clear instruction in skills and a collaborative learning environment has been very positive. Students report being more open to meeting intellectual challenges in a bold way; gaining greater confidence in their ability to think critically and present their ideas; and having a sense of intellectual accomplishment. Through my roles as coach, mentor and expert, I strive to meet two related goals in education: to ignite students’ passion for thinking by making it relevant to their lives, and to encourage students to own and direct their learning.
To this end I set the stage for student engagement from day one, informing students that our course may be very different from what they expect, describing in detail my high expectations of their investment, and explaining the benefits of this approach. In my Asian literature course for non-majors, inspired by the meditative traditions we study, we start every class with a few minutes of meditation and silent journaling about the reading assignment. I situate this practice in the context of my expectations for insightful engagement in activities, and explain that students need to quiet their minds in order to contribute to our academic community. Instead of listening to a lecture on the meaning of passages from the Tao te Ching, students practice guided literary analysis of assigned passages, applying background knowledge from earlier lectures on general themes and context, to construct textual meanings in collaboration. At the end of the semester, I ask students to reflect in writing about their growth: what they can do (better) now that they couldn’t do before, how they will use what they have learned in the real world, and what they have learned about themselves through our work together.
In my first-year composition course, after practicing argumentation skills, students work together in semester-long learning teams to create websites called Lamar Critical Editions about works of their choice, which contain researched entries on contexts surrounding the literature, critical summaries of influential scholarship, and original research essays. Scaffolded, skill-based writing instruction coupled with opportunities for collaborative, open-ended interpretation provides student with the confidence to pursue ambitious arguments in which they are genuinely invested.
In my advanced courses for majors, students maintain writing portfolios consisting of short bi-weekly papers. These papers receive only formative feedback and the portfolio is graded holistically based on improvement, which gives weak writers the confidence to succeed while encouraging recognized writers to take risks with more advanced critical thinking and writing styles. Instead of lecturing on the Enlightenment, I require students in a course on British literature after 1800 to answer reading questions about the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article on the Enlightenment to historicize our analysis of secularization, scientific discourse and religion in modern literature.
The effect of combining rigorous standards for self-sufficiency with clear instruction in skills and a collaborative learning environment has been very positive. Students report being more open to meeting intellectual challenges in a bold way; gaining greater confidence in their ability to think critically and present their ideas; and having a sense of intellectual accomplishment. Through my roles as coach, mentor and expert, I strive to meet two related goals in education: to ignite students’ passion for thinking by making it relevant to their lives, and to encourage students to own and direct their learning.
Sample Syllabi
| mythology_syllabus_fall_2014.pdf |
| eng_1302.60_spring_2015_syllabus_sacs.pdf |
| engl_4334_spring_2015_syllabus_sacs.pdf |
| philosophy_of_knowledge_syllabus_fall_2014.pdf |
| brit_lit_after_1800_spring_2012_syllabus.pdf |
